How to manage contacts? It's messy! - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi Guys, hope this thead is approppriate here.
I wonder how do you manage your contacts, for me it turned out very messy. Well I don't really have problem with Google contacts, but since our phones are also capable to show FB and many accounts contacts i would be awesome to combien all the useful infos....something like ENHANCING my Gooogle contacts using other accounts infos (like picture ansd birthdays, among others)
I don{t know if this is a temporary issu....but My FB contact are not synching well and and pictures are not always synched.
I used to have an iPhone 3gs and ther was this app called "MyPhone+"....was very handy......anyone know something like this for Android!
Hope you can help me....!
Thanks!

Go contacts in the play store
Samsung Galaxy SIII (SPH-L710)

you can manage contacts over here https://www.google.com/contacts/

If you only need to add the syncing aspect, Friends Sync by WATTO Studios is my Fave. It's consistent, small, fast, & syncs more fields than other apps. The logo is ugly, though, IMO.
~Via xda-dev app on mT4g running 0.0's CM10 JB Desire S port (v8/6)

from your account of Gmail , enter the version web and edit your contacts, it works for me.:good:

Windows Phone has an option of linking two or more contacts. Quite useful. There must be an easy way in Android as well.

When you go to Contacts and select any contact, there should be an option to join contacts. You can cut out the duplicate entries this way and have all the info show up on one name.

When you join contacts it's works but if you wipe flash new rom all changes revert back
Sent from my LG-P990 using Tapatalk 2

Google Contacts the very first time is a mess, but after you reorganize all your contacts everything works simple fine

Myphoneexplorer is quite good for cleaning up contacts. Used to allow merging but for some reason that got taken away.
http://www.fjsoft.at/en/
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

I keep all my contacts in Microsoft outlook on my PC and sync using "myphonexplorer".
Categories in outlook sync with groups in both stock android contact manager and "go contacts".
I prefer "go contacts" to the stock contact manager because if fully customizable and allows group messaging without the cap on number of contacts also group chat..
"Myphonexplorer" syncs contacts, messages, calendar, and files via usb and Wi-Fi. Also allows you to text from your PC.
The only things missing from "Myphonexplorer" is mms and group messaging from PC which would be really nice.
Both "Myphonexplorer" and "go contacts" are free in the play store.
~Samsung Galaxy SIII (SPH-L710) - Blazer ROM v1.6 - TWRP~

I have to try this tips out. Thanks
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

hd2000 said:
When you join contacts it's works but if you wipe flash new rom all changes revert back
Sent from my LG-P990 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not if you sync them to Google after you have them sorted the way you want.

i don't want to open a new topic just for this question, so i'll post it here:
When adding a new contact to a google account from android, is there any way to auto insert that contact to a custom created group? I keep forgetting to add the new contacts to a specific group and i want this operation to be done automatically, any solutions?

maranello69 said:
i don't want to open a new topic just for this question, so i'll post it here:
When adding a new contact to a google account from android, is there any way to auto insert that contact to a custom created group? I keep forgetting to add the new contacts to a specific group and i want this operation to be done automatically, any solutions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
vCard sucks.. it doesnt support enough kinds of information, such as categories.. it doesnt work worth crap for CJK Characters either.. I cant believe every single program for Android only supports vCrap anyway.. but its all we have for now I guess... Windows 7 only has vCard 2.1 support.. .. but, it could be remedied on the software end by a program that would allow you to group contacts by a specific field.. you could then use one of the other existing fields as a "Categories" field...
there arent really any good programs from what I've seen.. honestly, I think i need to learn how to program an Android app just so I can find something useful so i'm not always stuck in suckville
but then, i dont think android will be around much longer.

Related

[Q] Facebook contact picture sync ?

High there, got my SGS2 yesterday, rooted and all is well. I had a HTC HD2 before, and I have to say with recent android builds it was quite cool, but no comparison to the speed and beauty of the Galaxy S2.
One thing totally trips me off though and that is Samsungs Social Hub. I.e. when checking for Software updates you need to create an account... no go. But I digress.
What I want is for the contacts app to basically work like the one in HTC Sense,
which pulls in Facebook info of your contacts to the address book.
It will update the contacts picture (most importantly) and also updates/displays recent status updates.
I have tried apps like SyncMyPics (seems to have problems properly identifying contacts and complains about write protection on them) and Facebook sync (which finds 0 friends to match, even though there are several named identical between FB and the Phone book).
Please dont suggest just making an account at Samsung. I will NOT have all my address book uploaded and snooped through. It has to be ON the Phone. (Not using Google to handle my contacts either, no use of GMail).
JOINING the contact sets does not really work well at all, you don't get to pick which picture is to be used etc etc.
I'd like a priority-based link between my phonebook entry and the corresponding facebook profile, where the facebook profile info takes priority of the two.
Any suggestions? It worked beautifully in HTC Sense Desire HD ROM on HD2.
Have you tried installing Facebooks own app? Not used any of the Samsung stuff and I appear to have my friends photo, phone numbers and email addresses added, plus birthdays are appearing in my local calendar.
Sure have. In Facebook for Android the Sync Contacts option is checked at "sync all contacts", so is it in the Systems Accounts & Sync settings etc. Still, it doesnt seem to work. Maybe I'll give it another "delete all contacts" run and check my sequence again.
When i synced my Facebook contacts with my Google contacts, profile pictures were added.... great! but they are shockingly pixelated! When someone phones me and the picture pops up it look embarrassing, anyone else had this issue?
SyncMyPix works ok here. You can still manually "join" not founded to correct ones.
Just redid all my contacts, re-synced with syncmypics, this time it found 72 matches, but it didn't update the contacts. Also, when linking manually in smp, it loads the existing pic for cropping.
No other positive results either...
As I said, not using Google for contacts either. Must be a problem with the Samsung Contacts app? All Contacts were imported from a Sense-exported vcf file and have <HTCData><Facebook>id:XXXXXXX etc etc in the NOTE field. Might that be a cause of the problem?
I deleted it on a contact but it didn't seem to make a difference.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
stBlueJay said:
When i synced my Facebook contacts with my Google contacts, profile pictures were added.... great! but they are shockingly pixelated! When someone phones me and the picture pops up it look embarrassing, anyone else had this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, they don't look good! Also in my buddy widgets they are f*cking ugly. With my incredible s they were nice and normal, good looking. I would like to see it getting better too...
Ok... So I just found two things:
1. If I manually join contacts and the phonebook has a picture, that pic will be used over the Facebook one. Once that pic is deleted, the Facebook pic is used. (No hint as to whether or not it's a FB pic though, as the small blue F in HTC Sense)
2. When editing the contact and switching to the facebook tab on the contact, it says "Unable to edit SNS contact on the phone" - I guess this means that you can't edit your buddies FB pic on your phone, which makes perfect sense. Just wondering if "SNS" refers to a general social networking services or some particular Samsung service?
I must still say that HTC Sense did a better job integrating this type of info.
Ciddy said:
1. If I manually join contacts and the phonebook has a picture, that pic will be used over the Facebook one. Once that pic is deleted, the Facebook pic is used. (No hint as to whether or not it's a FB pic though, as the small blue F in HTC Sense)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you're looking at a contact card, you can choose which contact picture to use by pressing Menu > Mark as default.
The main difference from HTC is that the Samsung will only use the Facebook picture by default if there is not a picture already associated with the contact. You'll also find that the contact pictures taken from Facebook are sometimes stretched when you're in your contacts list to fit the available space (e.g. if the Facebook pic is rectangular rather than square).
Ciddy said:
2. When editing the contact and switching to the facebook tab on the contact, it says "Unable to edit SNS contact on the phone" - I guess this means that you can't edit your buddies FB pic on your phone, which makes perfect sense. Just wondering if "SNS" refers to a general social networking services or some particular Samsung service?
I must still say that HTC Sense did a better job integrating this type of info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SNS refers to the Samsung connectors for the various social networks the phone supports (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.). Equivalent of the likes of "Facebook for HTC Sense" that get used by FriendStream on HTC phones.
Thanks a LOT.
I'd never have guessed the "mark default" meant "select defaults" number etc...
So I logged into the social hub app and was a bit surprised it seems all traffic goes through Samsung servers? I remember Sense not asking me to agree to service terms, although I honestly tl;dr!-ed on the SNS agreement. Anywhere I could read up on that on a desktop screen tomorrow?
Weird thing is with Facebook for Android and SNS both running now, FBfA is labeled an "unknown" info source (displaying pictures in correct aspect ratio), while FB/SNS is labeled with the blue F but distorts the pics as mentioned...
So, so far the only upside to SNS is three ability to also sync the FB calendars...
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
cheers Wazzamatazz - this has been bugging me and I'm very grateful for your solution - thanks added!!

Adding birthdays to contacts

Hi there,
I have got a problem, which I don't know how to solve: I just wanted to add a birthday to a contact already saved on my Galaxy S2. So I entered the contact, clicked "edit" - but then, no field for the birthday!? Wtf?
In addition, when I open the contact, TW does not show me the birthday either (for contacts from exchange which do have a birthday added)...
So, this can't be true, can it? Where can I add and see the birthdays of my contacts?
Thanks!
Edit: It seems that I cannot add a birthday to contacts that are connected, which means, which come from my exchange server - can that be?
Because when I add a new contact and choose "Save on phone" I can add a birthday, but when I choose a new contact "Exchange" I cannot add a birthday... But my Exchange Software
can save birthdays, it did so with my HD2 on Android. Any ideas?
No idea? No one?
lamajstro said:
No idea? No one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have exactly the same problem - it's a mess.
you have to go to the contact, after that EDIT , after scroll down.. MORE, after scroll down you will see where it is
ediwitch said:
you have to go to the contact, after that EDIT , after scroll down.. MORE, after scroll down you will see where it is
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, but only if you created this contact on the phone. It does NOT work if you have an exchange contact.
MyPhoneexplorer worked for my birthdaydates and outlook.
ALexander
alx37 said:
MyPhoneexplorer worked for my birthdaydates and outlook.
ALexander
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's nice. However, I wanted to add a birthday to one of my contacts when I was attending a meeting - I neither had Outlook nor MyPhoneExplorer with me. So, there should be a way to complete existing contacts, shouldn't it?
Try to add the birthdaydate via google and sync afther.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
same issue with my Galaxy SII ...
the provided stock apps are ship,sorry i have to say that.i moved from iphone 4 and now it's just a mess with Android.
i don't wanna sync with GMail.
also can't open .eml and .msg attachments from my Exchange account with any of the email apps...what a pain
gessi2000 said:
same issue with my Galaxy SII ...
the provided stock apps are ship,sorry i have to say that.i moved from iphone 4 and now it's just a mess with Android.
i don't wanna sync with GMail.
also can't open .eml and .msg attachments from my Exchange account with any of the email apps...what a pain
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is more than disappointing.
And no, we don't want to sync our data with google servers for good reasons. Thats why I have my own Exchange and thats what I want the Galaxy S2 to do, nothing more, nothing less.
Guys - I just try to help you out. I came from Lotus Notes and got about 240 contacts in my adressbook. I tried several ways to get them in sync via android. What worked for me was to make a simpel csv-file with all my contacts and import it into my google account. Next step i sync via my phone with my googleacc. This worked. Then I sync with exchange - and now all my fields is visible - and edible. I think - that the phone just work best and smooth with a clean new contactfile. Afther i have no problem.
All systems I have worked with during the years, often got problems when the adressbook not is native.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Thanks for trying to help. But it cannot be that you have to give all your data to Google in order to get things to work properly although you have your own exchange server.
Just delete the contacts in google afther you sync.
By the way - if you worry about security - what you do on a exchange server LOL
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Glad to see its not just me, very annoying though. Samsumgs exchange active sync implementation seems to be far from perfect.
Once a week my calendar/e-mail goes rogue and starts up using alot of battery, a reboot fixes this.
I hope this contact problem gets fixed pretty soon, alot of the extra info is missing not just birthdays
I use aTAKEphONE as a dialer application, this lets you add a birthday date and gives many more options...
ALexander
By the way - if you worry about security - what you do on a exchange server LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We can not discuss about this as I am not the decision maker in my company but of course can suggest to move away from Exchange what they won't do for 100%.
All my previous companies were running Exchange by the way and it's not a point to talk about now.
I've done now what you suggested and imported my Exchange contacts to GoogleMail, deleted and unmarked for sync all contacts and accounts on my Samsungs Galaxy S2.
Resynced now first with GoogleMail only and then added the Exchange account for sync.
I can confirm that I get the birthday field now under the contacts.
Whyever the phone only shows the GoogleMail contacts with Icon and not any other (Active Sync, Skype, Facebook SNS) contacts anymore...
I am confused why they dont show up anymore...
Ahhh now I see... as I deleted my contacts from the phone it also wiped the Exchange contacts... great
OK... it's the same... only the imported contacts from GoggleMail have the birthday field.
When I create a new contact on my phone which is by default saved Exchange then I don't get this option to add a birthday... useless...
I have just received a message from Samsung concerning this problem. They say, they cannot promise that it will be fixed.
Oh, thats very nice. Thank you, very much. Once and never again.
lamajstro said:
Hi there,
I have got a problem, which I don't know how to solve: I just wanted to add a birthday to a contact already saved on my Galaxy S2. So I entered the contact, clicked "edit" - but then, no field for the birthday!? Wtf?
In addition, when I open the contact, TW does not show me the birthday either (for contacts from exchange which do have a birthday added)...
So, this can't be true, can it? Where can I add and see the birthdays of my contacts?
Thanks!
Edit: It seems that I cannot add a birthday to contacts that are connected, which means, which come from my exchange server - can that be?
Because when I add a new contact and choose "Save on phone" I can add a birthday, but when I choose a new contact "Exchange" I cannot add a birthday... But my Exchange Software
can save birthdays, it did so with my HD2 on Android. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you would like to add a birthday to a contact, you need to:
Select the relevant contact
Select Edit
Select “Add another field”
Select “Events”
Then add the birthday
Hope this info helps

[Q] Contact picture sync with Facebook ?

Hi
I am looking for some application which can sync the phonebook contacts to facebook contacts. I know there are a lot of applications available to do the job but the problem is they are not persistant. once I format/Flash new rom... every things goes away and I have to start from scratch.
In Nokia N900 there was an app called Hermes which once installed and mapped used the website field in the contacts to lookup for the image. All I had to do was to login and start the sync. I liked that feature as a lot of contact in my phonebook have diferent names than their facebook account so smart name matching isnt that smart in my case.
But In present case in android I am not sure where the mapping to the contacts is saved so it is lost all the time with a new rom flash
Any suggestion will be helpful.
Thanks and Regards
Haxsync. You have to re-add it as an account when you flash a rom and sync it but it really isn't a big deal and it has been the most accurate for me.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Yep, another vote for Haxsync here. I don't pay for many apps, but it's cheap, and I don't regret it!
i tried it and the problem is i cannot find manual mapping of the contacts and facebook friends... is there a way ??

Syncing Facebook contact pictures

Hello!
I just changed to a new Galaxy S3 last weekend and there's still an issue that I have not been able to solve. When I go to the contacts app, contacts appear linked to their Facebook profile, but I cannot see their picture. In the synchronization options my Facebook account seems to be well added and the "Sync contacts" option is ticked. I just want every contact to appear with their FB picture the same way it used to happen in my already retired HTC Desire.
Any help with this?
Thank you very much!
i couldn't get this to work with the facebook app (which was the only reason i downloaded it) so instead i tried an app called "syncmypix" which did the pictures > contacts sync perfectly
Dj Telo said:
Hello!
I just changed to a new Galaxy S3 last weekend and there's still an issue that I have not been able to solve. When I go to the contacts app, contacts appear linked to their Facebook profile, but I cannot see their picture. In the synchronization options my Facebook account seems to be well added and the "Sync contacts" option is ticked. I just want every contact to appear with their FB picture the same way it used to happen in my already retired HTC Desire.
Any help with this?
Thank you very much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use haxsync from marketplace. Best one out there.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
omgbuffguy said:
Use haxsync from marketplace. Best one out there.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CONTACT SYNC into the PLAYSTORE is for FREE and you can chose huge picture size!
Is there no way to get FB contact phone numbers (if they're on there) without using the official FB app (which doesn't seem to work)?
Try to delete the facebook sync and re-do it. Not sure if that will help.
Longshot: Delete the facebook app cache.
Thank you all for your replies. Most of them are the things a "more or less experienced user" would have done and, because of this, I had already tried them...
Using either "Haxsync" or "Contact Sync" there are still some contacts that I don't get well synchronized...
I have also tried to edit some contacts manually via my Gmail account adding the HTC Data type information that is supposed to link contacts with Facebook (lines lika <HTCData><Facebook>id:XXXXXXXXXX/friendof:YYYYYYYY</Facebook></HTCData>) but not even this way I've had success...
It's unbelievable how such a simple thing can bring so much trouble...
Ok, here's what I did to finally solve it.
With Haxsync, synchronize automatically the contacts the app recognised itself.
With Haxsync, synchronize all my other Facebook contacts. There's an option to do that, you have to select all your contacts from a list, one by one.
Link manually these contacts synchronized in previous step.
With Haxsync again, assign each contact it's HTC Facebook ID.
Now, with Contact Sync, do a synchronization with the "Sync by HTC Facebook ID" option ticked.
Done!
If you have a tidy list of contacts in Gmail, every one of them with its HTC Facebook ID, there's no way it can go wrong!
I use Facebook Contact Sync - might be better or worse than Haxsync, not sure - but it's free. It works but you have to do some manual labor to set it up. It could use some more features and support from the dev but at least it does the job...unlike the Facebook app...which is a total disappointment with syncing.
Elysium1215 said:
Is there no way to get FB contact phone numbers (if they're on there) without using the official FB app (which doesn't seem to work)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've spoken with some devs about this and it's not possible because Facebook only allows addons to see/pull certain pieces of information. Birthdays, for example, can be set to private by FB users and so addons cannot pull that data - some people have it public so it works sometimes. I believe phone numbers are just completely off limits.
This works in Wifi connection only using the official facebook app.. It will not immediately load all the images specially if you have lots of friends but it will load it all.. If not try to clear your facebook app cache and data...
Using only mobile connection facebook is a failure, all the problems will start if you are in mobile connection :cyclops:
wicked1683 said:
This works in Wifi connection only using the official facebook app.. It will not immediately load all the images specially if you have lots of friends but it will load it all.. If not try to clear your facebook app cache and data...
Using only mobile connection facebook is a failure, all the problems will start if you are in mobile connection :cyclops:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have always tried the sync process with Wifi connection and the official FB app won't sync a single picture... It links most of the contacts and makes them appear with the FB logo, but it does not load the picture...
Dj Telo said:
I have always tried the sync process with Wifi connection and the official FB app won't sync a single picture... It links most of the contacts and makes them appear with the FB logo, but it does not load the picture...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wifi connection works for me... try clearing the data and cache of facebook or better reinstall the application then try to sync again using a wifi connection (make sure you clear the cache and data before uninstalling the app).. You may need to still wait for a while if you have lots of friend.
I'm only having problem if I use Mobile connection...
An additional question: do you know if we can make the contacts be shown with their Facebook name? This was possible with HTC Sense...
Im using the official Facebook for Android app and I have contact photos, phone numbers etc everything synching fine. And thats even with moving the data from one device to another.
MeX_DK said:
Im using the official Facebook for Android app and I have contact photos, phone numbers etc everything synching fine. And thats even with moving the data from one device to another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are on a Galaxy II... Galaxy S3 seems to have the problem with syncing FB contact photos
TBayTom said:
You are on a Galaxy II... Galaxy S3 seems to have the problem with syncing FB contact photos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My SGS3 doesn't have any issues either
What do u mean by manual labor?!... I am used to use this application on my HTC Desire and it was working fine but now it doesn't work... I face a problem after linking all the contacts that I can't make any calls or receive ... What type of configurations have you done ?! ...
Btw I tried this application on two different galaxy S3 device and I faced the same problem.
jeffreii said:
I use Facebook Contact Sync - might be better or worse than Haxsync, not sure - but it's free. It works but you have to do some manual labor to set it up. It could use some more features and support from the dev but at least it does the job...unlike the Facebook app...which is a total disappointment with syncing.
I've spoken with some devs about this and it's not possible because Facebook only allows addons to see/pull certain pieces of information. Birthdays, for example, can be set to private by FB users and so addons cannot pull that data - some people have it public so it works sometimes. I believe phone numbers are just completely off limits.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using friendcaster pro, but the normal version should work fine as wel: https://play.google.com/store/apps/...fyFree&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd
I have no issues and the best thing about that app are:
more function than original app
NO transferring of your SMS (unlike the original version from facebook, which does that)
nice UI
Make sure that contacts sync setting from facebook is enabled than try to logout from facebook app and log back on... It worked for me and now I have all my contacts pictures!
all the other applications doesnt sync numbers or emails from facebook only pictures !. can somebody tell me if there is a solution ? i tried all the posted solutions but non of them is working !

Not all Contacts update after Sync with Gmail

Hello guys
I'm using Galaxy S2, running ICS 4.0.3
I have lots of funny contact names because of the SKYPE nicknames. Also, some contacts are made from email handlers.
So to organize them nicely, I spent last few hours on my Gmail / Contact account, renaming, adding photos, merging etc...
Except, that when I want to SYNC it. Not all of the contacts update, and some remain as they were.
I would trash them all and import new set from Gmail, but I'm worry that when I do that, it might trash my gmail contact as well
Any idea what's the best way to deal with that ?
Also, is there any way to change the contact font size? I have many long names, and lots of contacts. The screen cuts most of the names
off and many of the contacts share same name. I have to open the contact, to find out details in order to know who I'm looking for.
Any suggestions, much appreciated.
Did u try manually syncing gmail contacts under settings? Some times you have to manually push it. Also, what android version/ROM are you running?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
Jcossack88 said:
Did u try manually syncing gmail contacts under settings? Some times you have to manually push it. Also, what android version/ROM are you running?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there
Yes, right after I made changes in my gmail contacts, I went to settings and did the Sync Now.
Let me explain what doesn't update exactly.
I have many phone numbers to HP staff. They used to be sorted like: James - HP, Azman - HP, Raymond - HP etc.... Because they were all over my address book, I rename it in gmail contacts to HP - James, HP - Azman, HP - Raymond. Having them all grouped together in my list, given the first letters are identical. It works great in gmail contacts, but out of these 3, only HP - Azman get updated after SYNC. The rest remain the same.
This is something I don't understand.
Thanks for taking the time and looking into my post
Cheers
Seba

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